When the Iranian student activist Arash Sadeghi was temporarily released from Tehran's Evin prison in November 2010, he anticipated a little respite from a year of harsh beatings and agony in jail.

Instead, within a few days, security officials had raided his home in middle of the night. As they broke their way into the house, Sadeghi's mother, who was alone with her daughter, suffered a heart attack.

The officials continued their search as she laid unconscious on the floor, ransacking the house and trying to find Sadeghi, who was at his grandfather's house that night. When the officials left, Farahnaz Dargahi was taken to hospital. She died within a few days.

"My father, my sister and my entire family and relatives blame me for her death," Sadeghi told the news website Roozonline at the time. "Our house has become hell … My father tells me that you killed your mother and I don't want you at home … I prefer to go back to jail."

The story of imprisoned student activist Arash Sadeghi and its radicalising effect on his family is becoming a familiar one in Iran

Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk, Friday 23 November 2012

When the Iranian student activist Arash Sadeghi was temporarily released from Tehran's Evin prison in November 2010, he anticipated a little respite from a year of harsh beatings and agony in jail.

Instead, within a few days, security officials had raided his home in middle of the night. As they broke their way into the house, Sadeghi's mother, who was alone with her daughter, suffered a heart attack.

The officials continued their search as she laid unconscious on the floor, ransacking the house and trying to find Sadeghi, who was at his grandfather's house that night. When the officials left, Farahnaz Dargahi was taken to hospital. She died within a few days.

"My father, my sister and my entire family and relatives blame me for her death," Sadeghi told the news website Roozonline at the time. "Our house has become hell … My father tells me that you killed your mother and I don't want you at home … I prefer to go back to jail."